Alcaraz, Sinner reach quarters as Tsitsipas beats Medvedev

Doha, Qatar: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner powered into the Qatar ExxonMobil Open quarter finals while World No.33 Stefanos Tsitsipas knocked out f...

Doha, Qatar: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner powered into the Qatar ExxonMobil Open quarter-finals while World No.33 Stefanos Tsitsipas knocked out former champion Daniil Medvedev in an action-packed Round of 16 in Doha yesterday.

Playing in the late-night clash against Frenchman Valentin Royer at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, the World No.1 Alcaraz secured a 6-2, 7-5 win over the Frenchman.

The Spaniard looked in complete control in the opening set, but a few unforced errors gave Royer a 3-1 advantage. Royer almost pulled off a set win, forcing a decider as Alcaraz trailed 5-2. However, Alcaraz fought back brilliantly, mixing power with precision to win five straight games and seal the victory to set up a quarter-final clash against Russia’s Karen Khachanov, who earlier overcame Marton Fucsovics in a two-hour thriller 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

“There were some moments I thought about the third set, I’m not going to lie. Just a small place in my mind where I was thinking about the third set, the rest was working to find the solution, to find the right way to win the game,” Alcaraz said after the match.Italy’s Jannik Sinner in action during his match against Australia’s Alexei Popyrin.

“I was really happy that I was able to find the good rhythm again, the good tennis. It’s just about fighting. I know tennis, it’s just about one point and sometimes it’s really difficult to close the sets, the matches. I’m happy to turn it around and get the win in straight sets.”